The only real minimum requirement that WinGate has is IE4 and above. If the computer is good enough to run the OS, it's certainly good enough (spec wise) to run WinGate. Keep in mind that it will also depend on what your users are going to be doing, and whether you want to run AntiVirus on that machine as well, since AV scanning takes a lot of CPU.
We have customer sites where there are well over 250 concurrent users hitting WinGate all day long on a P4 3GHz machine without any problems.
If you want to run AV though, you can divide that by between 3 and 6, again depending on what your users are doing.
Bear in mind also this is concurrent users, not seats. Normally not everyone is using WinGate all at the same time.

You enter the registration key in the WinGate Management Console. Under the Navigation menu on the left click on Licensing. In the tasks menu on the lower left click "Add License". Follow the instructions in the wizard.

You will need to download the latest version from the WinGate Download Site: http://www.ccsoftware.ca/wingate/download.cfm This can be installed right over your current installation. If your upgrade protection is current on your WinGate license you will have access to all new features. If your upgrade protection is not current you will only have access to the features which were available in the release you purchased.

The first time you log in to the WinGate Management Console, you need to leave the username set to Administrator and the password blank. In fact, you should not add or remove any information from any of the fields there. You will get a warning that you are logging in without a password, click [OK}. You will then be notified that you will have no rights on the system until you change your password, that is ok too. As soon as you press [OK] you will be prompted to change your password. Leave the old password blank and type in your password in the [New] and [Confirm] fields. Press [OK] and you will be logged in to Gatekeeper for the first time.

Yes. To enable this, log into the GateKeeper and in EACH service, under both the System Tab and the Services tab, click on the bindings tab. Note: DO NOT change THE REMOTE CONTOL SERVICE.

From the bindings tab, under the heading Adapter check to see if the internal IP address is listed. If it is you are already set, if not, click Add in the bottom window under the heading Binding Policy, and choose your local adapters IP address. Click apply and you should see this interface show up in the top "Adapter" window.

Using a USB connection is actually no different than a network adapter card on the WinGate server; the configurations will still apply from the WinGate helpdesk based on the operating system you are using. The USB connection will show up in the network properties and will be available for configuration.

To define the adapters usage as private select the Network tab in GateKeeper. Double click the adapter, this will open a properties dialogue box. Change the setting from "Auto Detect" to the "An Internal Protected Network".

Your Internet Applications should be configured as they would if you were connecting directly to your ISP. You should choose the option to connect via a LAN versus a direct connection or modem connection option.

With WinGate version 4.x and up, there are a number of options that allow you to secure the network. One is by binding the individual proxy services to a specific interface. This tells WinGate not to accept connections from anywhere but that particular Interface. Another option is to setup your system policies to only accept connections coming from specific address ranges. By using the ENS (Extended Network Support) you will have a fully functioning firewall on the WinGate Server.

When connecting the WinGate machine to the Internet through a Cable Modem, you first need to be sure to have two Network Interface Cardâ€™s (NICâ€™s) installed in that computer. One connected directly to your Cable Mode and the other connected directly to your internal network. ( You should not try connecting the Cable Modem directly to your network hub as this will cause severe security issues.) Then configure the Cable Modem NIC per your ISPâ€™s instructions, so you can browse and successfully access the Internet from that machine. Install TCP/IP on the internal NIC. Configure it per the instructions in the WinGate documentation. Be sure not to change the DNS or Gateway settings in this NICâ€™s configuration, only assign a static IP address and subnet mask. The rest of the WinGate configuration will be the same as if you were connecting to the Internet through a standard modem. You will not need to configure a dialer.

Click the users tab and then right click anywhere in the listing on the left hand side. Select Export Users. This will export all of the users and their passwords into a text file which will be placed in the c:\program files\wingate folder. You can export using a Tab Delimited text file or a Comma delimited text file.

Yes, you can block file downloads by changing your configuration settings in the WWW Proxy Service Policies as follows:
Open Gatekeeper.
Click on the Services tab.
Double click on the WWW Proxy Service
Click on the policies tab.
Add a policy and enable the Ban List with the following entries:
This criterion is met if... HTTP URL or Server name ends with .exe"
"This criterion is met if... HTTP URL or Server name ends with .zip"
"This criterion is met if... HTTP URL or Server name ends with ."

Yes you can connect your WinGate network through another proxy. This is called Cascading proxies.
Open up Gatekeeper and click on the Services tab.
Right click on the WWW Proxy Service and choose Properties
Click on connection
Select "Through Cascaded Proxy Server"
Enter the Servers IP address and Port Number
This will cause the service to connect via the server on the specified computer and port. Many ISPs have HTTP Proxies (usually using port 8080).

You can configure WinGate policies so all users must be authenticated before they have access to the Internet. This can be configured in the System Policies on the Users tab in Gatekeeper. Configure this so everyone must be authenticated. Then in each of your service policies set the default policies to "MUST be used as well".

Yes, you can block access to certain sites through WinGate using the policies in the WWW Proxy Service. You can also restrict users access through WinGate to only certain, pre-determined sites using the Ban list feature in the WWW Proxy Service.

When the ISP requires you to enter an @ symbol or any other type of delimiter character, this may indicate that the ISP is using a proxy server. FIX: Delete the pop3 mapping in GateKeeper, create a TCP mapping service to handle the pop Email through WinGate.

Open up the command prompt and type in:
FTP < IP Address of the WinGate machine >
You will receive the response "220 WinGate Engine FTP Gateway Ready" *
User < IP of WinGate: >:
Type in < username@ftp.site.com >
You will receive the response: "301 Username Okay, need password"
Type in your password
You will receive the response: "230 User Logged in, proceed"
*if you do not receive a response from the WinGate FTP Service check in Gatekeeper under the Services tab to make sure that you have the FTP Service available.

Open WinGate and under the System Tab double click on the Email Option. Under the Delivery Tab, select from the How to deliver pull down menu ''Use Gateway'' and enter in the 3rd party mail server you wish the mail to be sent to. You can also select ''Use Gateway for Undeliverable Mail'' and all mail that can not be sent directly would use the 3rd party mail server to send the mail.

Open WinGate and under the System Tab double click on the Email option. Under the Domains tab click the Add button at the bottom. In the pop up window enter in the domain name you want WinGate to use and then select the option you wish this domain to be associated with (This domain is hosted locally, This domain points to a local domain, or Relay for this domain)

"Email Address Aliases" allow you to specify more than one Email address for a single user. They work for both incoming and outgoing mail to provide the following advantages. It is simple Â­ any Email directed at the "original recipient" is sent to the "Change to" recipient. The SMTP Proxy will actively change the TO: address before it reaches the actual SMTP server (so it will work for both incoming and outgoing Email).
For Example, if you have Email addresses info@test.com, postmaster@test.com, and webmaster@test.com and you want them all to be received by user@test.com. Under the Aliases tab, you would enter in each Email address in the ''''Mail Received for Address'''' field. Then in the ''''Change Address To'''' field you would enter in user@test.com.
NOTE: This can only be used when you have an internal mail server. Internal meaning that the mail server is located on a computer behind WinGate.

This basic approach is effective in that it makes your SMTP server an unattractive option to a spammer. This is because "spammers" typically rely on open-relay mail servers to relay their message on to many thousands of recipients from a single send.
However, it does NOT prevent local users from sending an outbound message to as many recipients as they want. This way "spammers" are restricted but your local users are not.
You can tell when a message is dropped because it had too many recipients. Neither the sender, the intended recipient, nor the WinGate administrator is notified (there will be an error code 2 entry in the SMTP Proxy log file).
NOTE: This can only be used when you have an internal mail server. Internal meaning that the mail server is located on a computer behind WinGate.

You can specify a list of "Local Mail Domains" Â­ only users who are members of one (or more) of these domains will be able to send and receive through this proxy. WinGate verifies this by checking the Email address of both the sender and recipients (via the "MAIL FROM" and "RCPT TO" commands specified in the SMTP protocol).
If the mail sender / recipient is not a member of a "local mail domain", you can configure the proxy to:

Allow Relaying Â­ Permits open relaying of Email (spamming)

Reject Relay Attempts Â­ Rejects the message and notifies the sender

Silently Discard Relay Attempt Â­ Rejects the message but does not notify the sender (annoying for the spammer since they think their message was successfully dispatched)

NOTE: This can only be used when you have an internal mail server. Internal meaning that the mail server is located on a computer behind WinGate.

Many ISPâ€™s charge for the amount of data sent through their servers. You may choose to restrict the maximum size for an incoming message! (WinGate will not restrict outgoing Emails). Note that the message header/control fields are normally 20k (so you should allow for this when configuring your policy on Email size).
You can tell if this worked when a large message is dropped and neither the sender, the intended recipient, nor the WinGate administrator is notified (there will be an error code 2 entry in the SMTP Proxy log file).
NOTE: This can only be used when you have an internal mail server. Internal meaning that the mail server is located on a computer behind WinGate.

The reason you are seeing this message is because the ISP is not accepting your account information. Most ISPâ€™s, or Mail Servers, will not allow relaying, this is a setting within the Mail Server itself. If you do not have an account with the Mail Server for sending mail then you will get this message. If you get this message on a client computer then you will need to contact your ISP and ask them to add your account to the trusted domain for SMTP mail. If this is not possible, you maybe using the wrong SMTP server within your account.
If you are looking for a Mail Server, try MDaemon. MDaemon has an MX resolver that, when used with WinGate, corrects these errors.

Follow these steps to make certain that your Internet browser has been properly configured on all computers.

Double-click the Internet icon or Internet Options in the Control Panel.

Click the Connection tab.

The Connection page will look different depending on the version of Windows running on your computer. If you have Windows 95, confirm that the box labeled Connect to the Internet using a local area network is selected. If you have Windows 98, confirm that the box labeled Never Dial a Connection is selected.

Bytes sent to Client
This is the total number of bytes WinGate has sent to the client machine. In the case of HTTP use, a lot of this will come from the cache.

Bytes received from Client
This is the data that the client has sent to WinGate.

Bytes sent for Client
This is the data that WinGate has sent to servers on behalf of the client. This is usually different than the number of bytes received from the client.

Bytes received for Client
This is the amount of data WinGate has downloaded from the Internet on behalf of the client. This will likely be lower than the number of bytes sent to client, due to caching.

Second on-line
This is the number of seconds that a client was registered with WinGate. Note that this is not a reliable way of telling how much time a user spends on the net if they are logged on. Being logged on does not imply Internet use. Seconds online is updated at the end of all user sessions, when a user logs out.

Most likely, there are issues with the cache in WinGate. You should find that if you disable all caching (WinGate, browsers, web filters, etc.) and you purge the existing cache, you''ll receive Windows updates.

Edit the WinGate Internet Client by accessing it in the â€œcontrol panelâ€� (under â€œsettingsâ€� in the â€œStartâ€� menu). Double click the WinGate client icon in the control panel to open a dialog box. Click the applications tab, click the browse option and add the exe file that is using the CPU for local access.
You can find out which file is using the CPU by - hitting the ctrl / alt / delete button at the same time / choose task manager / click the processes tab and this will tell you what file is using the CPU.

Be sure you are using the latest version of WinGate and verify that there is no traffic in GateKeeper for the amount of time the auto-disconnect is set to. If there is traffic then there is something that is making a request and keeping the connection alive. Stop the application from making a request and that should solve the problem. Also, be sure no requests are being made on the server. The server activity will be tracked, although not seen, through GateKeeper.

Go into the Control Panel, Double click the WinGate Internet Client, click the applications tab. If iexplore.exe is listed here, remove it. The same would hold true if you are using Netscape and netscape.exe is listed here, remove it. Click apply, then OK at the bottom. Now open the browser and you should have no problems.

If the services in GateKeeper no longer appear, they can be manually restored. This may happen if you have installed something on the server that had a major effect on the TCP/IP settings.
You can add the services back into the server to allow client machines to access the Internet using proxy settings.
Open up Gatekeeper and click on the Services tab.
Right click anywhere in this window and choose new service.
One by one add the services that you need.

The instructions in the Application Specific setup articles are for connecting through WinGateâ€™s manual proxy settings. If you are running WinGate 3.x or later, with the WinGate Internet Client (WGIC) Software installed on your workstations, or have installed the ENS plugin with WinGate 4.x and above, configure your applications per your ISPâ€™s instructions. In most cases, this will be to simply leave the applications configured per default installation.

If you lost the Administrator password for Gatekeeper, you will need to perform an uninstall/reinstall on your Server computer. This is necessary to best protect your WinGate network from unauthorized changes.

If you have manual proxy settings in your browser it needs to be configured to use the WinGate WWW proxy server for FTP. You need to change your browsers FTP port number from port 21, to port 80 (or the same port number as the WinGate WWW proxy server in Gatekeeper). The WinGate FTP proxy is designed for stand alone FTP clients, such as FTP Voyager.

Yes you can use AOL Instant Messenger through WinGate. In the WinGate 2.x versions you will need to manually point the application through the Socks 5 proxy. WinGate 3.x with the WinGate Internet Client (WGIC), or WinGate 4.x and up with WGIC or ENS, will allow you to simply configure IM to connect via a LAN, with NO proxy settings needed.

For WinGate to function correctly it must determine whether an IP address/Network Interface is deemed to be Private or Public, Trusted versus Untrusted. By default it will assume that if the IP address is in one of the three sets of private class IP address ranges that it will be trusted. If you use a non-standard IP range on your network then WinGate will assume that it is public and untrusted.

You can check the usage of the Network Interfaces found on the WinGate Server by selecting the Network tab in GateKeeper. The adapter usage will be shown as Internal (trusted) or External (untrusted).

These settings can be overwritten, so that a Public (external) IP address can be trusted or considered local, however administrators should be aware of the possible security and configuration problems that may arise from this type of use.

To change the adapter usage double click the adapter, this will open a properties dialogue box. Change the setting from "Auto Detect" to the appropriate setting.

For normal use, this is not a serious vulnerability. The Winsock Redirector Service is, by default, only bound to the local network adaptors. Additionally, there is no need to bind the Winsock Redirector Service to public (Internet) adaptors because such attacks originate from within the LAN (i.e. from a local user). GateKeeper will warn the operator if an attempt is made to bind the Winsock Redirector Service to a public adaptor.

The developers of WinGate have addressed this issue. If this is a concern in your network, be sure you are running a version of WinGate higher than 4.1.0. Download the latest version of WinGate here:

Extended Network Support is the module in WinGate that includes Network Address Translation (NAT), Internet Firewall, and multiple network routing. All three features rely on the NAT engine being installed, but are all individually configurable

NAT stands for Network Address Translation (hereafter NAT) and provides WinGate with more power and flexibility for Internet sharing. NAT enables you to share an Internet connection among networked computers running virtually any application on any platform (including Windows, MacOS, Unix and Linux).

A network is simply two or more computers connected together so they can exchange information. Networking makes it possible for one computer to use a device (such as a color printer) that is connected to a different computer. In the home, a network can be used to share a single Internet connection among several computers.

Home networking technology enables two or more PCs, located throughout your home or small office, to communicate. With home networking, your computers can: